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We report a theoretical investigation of changes in the electronic structure of americium metal due to applied pressure. We employ a variant of the LDA+DMFT method that takes into account not only the correlations among the 5f electrons, but also the feedback of these correlations on the rest of the system by means of an appropriate adjustment of the electronic charge density. We observe only minor modification of the electronic structure in the compressed lattice, which is in accord with recent resonant x-ray spectroscopy experiments.

Specific heat of Pu doped with Am was studied for several Am concentrations (8-20%) ensuring the δ-Pu fcc structure. The results reveal that the γ value of the low temperature specific heat is lower than originally assumed (γ of 35 - 55 mJ/mol K2 can be deduced for Pu-8%Am) and does not increase with the Am-induced lattice expansion. The findings can be taken as an indication of the absence of the Pu-5f states at the Fermi level.

The around-the-mean-field version of the LDA+U correlated band theory is applied to investigate the electronic and magnetic structure of δ-Pu, Am, their alloys and compounds. It gives correct non-magnetic ground state for Pu and Am, and provides a good agreement with experimental equilibrium volumes and bulk moduli. For Pu-Am alloys, despite a lattice expansion caused by the Am atoms, neither tendency to 5f localization nor formation of local

Local density approximation for the electronic structure calculations has been highly successful for non-correlated systems. The LDA scheme quite often failed for strongly correlated materials containing transition metals and rare-earth elements with complicated charge, spin and orbital ordering. Dynamical mean field theory in combination with the first-principle scheme (LDA+DMFT) can be a starting point to go beyond static density functional approximation and include effects of charge, spin and orbital fluctuations. Ab-initio relativistic dynamical mean-field theory is applied to resolve the long-standing controversy between theory and experiment in the “simple” face-centered cubic phase of plutonium called δ-Pu. In agreement with experiment, neither static nor dynamical magnetic moments are predicted. In addition, the quasiparticle density of states reproduces not only the peak close to the Fermi level, which explains the large coefficient of electronic specific heat, but also main 5f features observed in photoelectron spectroscopy.

The ζ-phase, existing between 35 and 70% U in Pu, belongs to the high density phases seen from the point of view of systematics of allotropic modifications of Pu metal. Despite the volume per actinide atom only slightly higher than for α-Pu, it magnetic susceptibility is much higher than for α-Pu and exceeds even the δ-Pu value. Similarly, the Sommerfeld coefficient γ > 40 mJ/mol Pu K2 exceeds the experimental δ-Pu value. The data confirm that the volume is not the primary control parameter affecting the situation around the Fermi level of common Pu phases and they point against the traditional belief that they are essentially narrow 5f band systems.

Very diverse Pu compounds exhibit strikingly universal features in their valence-band photoemission (PES) spectra. The conjecture that such features represent the 5f5 final state multiplet has been corroborated by LDA+Hubbard I calculations, meaning that the ground state has a mixed 5f5-5f6 character. Later on, more elaborated DMFT techniques (one crossing approximation, QMC) led to similar conclusions, providing quantitative explanation of such intermeate-valent situation in more details. Analogies in PES spectra of δ-Pu and other Pu systems suggest that the situation envisaged for δ-Pu is relevant for a large group of Pu compounds. Here we show that the around mean field LDA+U in conjunction with the Hubbard I approximation, which describes well the non-magnetic ground state for δ-Pu, captures in reality properties of a large group of Pu (as well as e.g. Am) compounds, reproducing correctly the onset of magnetism and size of magnetic moments.

The electronic structure of Pu chalcogenides is investigated making use of static around-mean-field LDA+U and dynamical LDA+HIA (Hubbard-I) methods. The LDA+U calculations provide correct non-magnetic ground state for PuX (X = S, Se, Te) with 5f-manifold non-integer filling (∼5.6(PuS)-5.7(PuTe)). This is an indication of a mixed valence ground state which is a combination of f5 and f6 multiplets. The photoelectron spectra are calculated in good agreement with experimental data. The 5f-manifold three-peaks feature near EF is well reproduced by LDA+HIA, and follows from mixed valence character of the ground state.

We study theoretically the electronic structure and photoemission spectra of PuCoGa5 making use of the LDA+Hubbard I approximation implemented in the full-potential LAPW basis, including self-consistency over the charge density. The calculations show relative reduction of the f-states spectral weight at the Fermi energy. There is fairly good agreement between calculated photoemission spectra and experimental results. We demonstrate that an account of Pu f-electron Coulomb correlations does not modify significantly the Fermi surface topologies but leads to substantial reduction of the f-character for the electronic states at the Fermi energy. These findings can be important for the theory of superconductivity in PuCoGa5 and related compounds.

The correlated band theory picture (LSDA+U) has been applied to UGe2, in which superconductivity has been found to coexist with robust ferromagnetism. Over a range of volumes (i.e. pressures), two nearly degenerate states are obtained, which differ most strikingly in their orbital character (on uranium). The calculated moment, and its separation into spin and orbital parts, is consistent with recent polarized neutron scattering data. These two states are strong candidates for the two ferromagnetic phases, one low-temperature -- low-pressure, the other higher-temperature -- higher pressure. Magnetic waves built from fluctuations between these uranium configurations provide a possible new mechanism of pairing in UGe2.

We study effects of electron correlations on the electronic structure and spectra of Pu, Am and their alloys. We make use of the LDA + Hubbard-I approximation being implemented in the full-potential LAPW basis and including self-consistency over the charge density. We demonstrate that this approximation correctly captures trends observed in the experimental photoemission spectra of plutonium and its compounds: insensitivity of the f electron spectral features to alloying with another element and enhancement of f electron localization in thin films compared to the bulk material.

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